OS X Yosemite gives older Mac hardware a reprieve

Apple CEO Tim Cook arrives to speak during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference at the Moscone West center in San Francisco on June 2.

Apple CEO Tim Cook arrives to speak during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference at the Moscone West center in San Francisco on June 2.

Photo: Getty Images

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Cook kicked off the annual WWDC which is typically a showcase for upcoming updates to Apple hardware and software. The conference runs through June 6.

Cook kicked off the annual WWDC which is typically a showcase for upcoming updates to Apple hardware and software. The conference runs through June 6.

Photo: Getty Images

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Apple Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Craig Federighi speaks about the new OS X Yosemite.

Apple Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Craig Federighi speaks about the new OS X Yosemite.

Photo: Getty Images

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People wait to get in to the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference at the Moscone West.

People wait to get in to the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference at the Moscone West.

Photo: Getty Images

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People wait to get in to the conference.

People wait to get in to the conference.

Photo: Getty Images

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People wait to get in to the conference.

People wait to get in to the conference.

Photo: Getty Images

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Protesters march outside the Moscone Center during the start of WWDC on June 1. Protesters raised their voices regarding Apple's taxes and recent evictions in the Mission District.

Protesters march outside the Moscone Center during the start of WWDC on June 1. Protesters raised their voices regarding Apple's taxes and recent evictions in the Mission District.

Photo: The Chronicle

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Police escort protesters out of the Moscone Center during the start of WWDC.

Police escort protesters out of the Moscone Center during the start of WWDC.

Photo: The Chronicle

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OS X Yosemite gives older Mac hardware a reprieve

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Late last month, I bought a used Mac Mini from a regular commenter on TechBlog. “Rick” happened to mention in a comment on my post about downsizing my tech that he wanted to unload the computer, which was less than a year old, for $500.

This was attractive to me for two reasons.

First, the iMac that serves as my primary desktop computer is more than six years old. It’s the oldest iMac that can still run Mavericks, the latest version of the Mac OS. I had anticipated that, when the next version of OS X came out, this aging iMac would not be able to use it.

Second, this was an awesome deal. The Mac Mini that Rick was selling is the current model – Apple hasn’t updated this hardware since 2012 – and it’s loaded. It has a quad-core, Intel Core i7 processor, a 1-terabyte hard drive and 16-gigabytes of RAM. Buy it new from Apple, and it’ll set you back $1,100.

Rick said he had not used it much, buying it out of curiosity – he wanted to see if he’d like using a Mac. A longtime Windows user, he decided he didn’t care for it. His disdain was my gain, and I bought it from him.

Then came Monday’s unveiling of the next version of the Mac’s operating system. OS X Yosemite is a pretty compelling update, loaded with cool features and greater interaction with devices running iOS, Apple’s mobile operating system. I’m looking forward to putting it on my new Mac Mini.

But here’s a surprise: Apparently, it also will run on my aging, mid-2007 iMac.

Business Insider reports that the minimum specs for the developer preview version of OS X 10.10 – which has been given to attendees at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference – say that the oldest iMac that will run it is the model I have. This gives it another year of life, at least – assuming, of course, that the specs will remain the same for the final release of Yosemite.

Here’s the list of devices that will run Yosemite, from the BI piece:

iMac (mid-2007 or newer)

MacBook Air (late 2008 or newer)

MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer)

Mac Mini (Early 2009 or newer)

MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer)

Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer)

Xserve (Early 2009)

Now, Apple is notorious for dropping support for aging hardware with newer OS releases. And that reputation is reinforced with the list of hardware that will be able to run iOS 8.

iPhone 4S

iPhone 5

iPhone 5C

iPhone 5S

iPod Touch 5th generation

iPad 2

iPad with Retina Display

iPad Air

iPad Mini

iPad Mini with Retina Display

The iPhone 4 is no long supported (though, surprisingly, the iPad 2 is). Of course, iPhone 4 users who have installed iOS 7 understand why. That aging hardware is, um, challenged by the newer OS. The upcoming version would likely fare worse.

Now, this news doesn’t make me regret my Mac Mini purchase. I’m loving the speed and the capabilities available in newer Macs. But it’s interesting to know that I could have kept going with the iMac for one more year, had I chosen to.

One other benefit: I intend to sell the iMac, and the fact that OS X Yosemite can be installed on it should help it retain its value. I do love the iMac, and now its sale will likely more than cover the price of the used Mac Mini. Even in its sunset years, it’s still useful.